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Enjoy homegrown tomatoes sooner with these tips for moving up your harvest by days or weeks.
Key Takeaways
- Plant early-season tomato varieties or cherry types you can harvest 50–65 days after transplanting.
- Ensure optimal growing conditions of full sun, well-drained soil, warm temperatures, and starter fertilizer to speed growth.
- Grow tomatoes in raised beds or containers, stake plants, and delay mulching until soil warms up for earlier harvests.
Tomatoes have a way of taking their sweet time to produce perfectly ripe fruit. Enjoy fresh salsa, colorful salad toppers, and thick slices of a beefsteak tomato a week or two earlier in the season with these strategies for promoting an early harvest. Air temperature and soil conditions play a big role in when tomatoes ripen, but there are several tactics that can speed the process along. Your first BLT of the season is just a few weeks away!
How Long Does It Take Tomatoes to Grow?
Tomato seed packets and starter plant tags usually list "days to maturity." This is roughly how long it takes for the plant to produce ripe fruit after it is transplanted into the garden. Tomatoes ripen 50 to 90 or more days after planting.
If you are growing tomatoes from seed, add 30 to 40 days to the "days to maturity" number to get an idea of when you will harvest fruit based on when you plant the seed.
The "days to maturity" number is just an estimate. Cool, cloudy conditions can lengthen tomato production by days or weeks. Precisely when the cool weather hits is a factor too. Cool conditions at the beginning of the season are expected and plants pick up growth quickly when temperatures rebound. A cool or cloudy spell after fruit set can add a week or two to harvest time.
Early-, Mid-, and Late-Season Varieties
Tomatoes are grouped into three categories based on their "days to maturity." Early season tomatoes typically ripen in 50 to 65 days after transplanting (many cherries and salad tomatoes fall in this category). Mid-season tomatoes ripen in 65 to 80 days after transplanting. And late-season tomatoes require 80 days or more to ripen.
Some cold regions don’t have 80 or more days of warm weather to ripen late-season tomatoes; grow early and mid-season tomatoes in these regions to ensure ripening before temperatures dip in fall.
Ways to Enjoy an Earlier Harvest
Whether you’re scheming to harvest the first tomato on the block or simply want to extend your harvest of flavor-rich backyard fruit, these 7 tips will promote an early harvest.
1. Choose Early-Season Varieties
For the earliest possible harvest, plant early season tomato varieties. These flavorful, productive plants produce ripe fruit 8 to 9 weeks after transplanting. A long-time favorite is 'Early Girl'. A small beefsteak tomato, 'Early Girl' has round, red fruit. It starts fruiting before most tomatoes and will continue for weeks.
Grape and cherry tomatoes are known to ripen in just 55 days or so. 'Valentine', 'Fantastico', and 'Sungold' are quick to ripen. These tiny treats can hide in the prolific foliage of a robust plant. Move leaves aside to hunt for the first ripe tomatoes in the lower half of the plant.
2. Start with Healthy Transplants
A healthy tomato transplant, whether you start it yourself from seed or purchase a seedling at the garden center, will establish quickly in the garden, setting the course for rapid fruit production. A vigorous transplant is short and sturdy with dark green leaves. Avoid plants that are large, leggy, and have started flowering. Younger, smaller plants will pass them by, producing earlier and more fruit.
3. Plant in an Ideal Location
Meet a tomato’s growing needs and it will mature quickly, producing fruit much faster than a plant that is struggling to survive in a tough planting spot. Tomatoes thrive in full sun—they need at least 8 hours of bright, direct sunlight a day—and moist, well-drained soil. If you don’t have an in-ground planting spot that fits the bill, plant tomatoes in large containers.
4. Use a Starter Fertilizer
Plant scientists have found a starter fertilizer applied at planting time pushes tomato plants to grow faster and flower sooner. Look for a water-soluble fertilizer that is high in phosphorus. Avoid a nitrogen-rich fertilizer; it will produce lots of leafy growth and delay fruiting.
5. Mulch at the Right Time
Wait to mulch tomato plants until the soil has warmed to at least 65°F. Because mulch is an effective insulator, it will keep the soil cool for a long period of time when applied in early spring. Cool soil equals slow plant growth, extending the time until fruit set.
6. Stake Your Plants
How you support tomatoes influences ripening time. Plants that are staked produce mature fruit faster than tomatoes that are grown in cages. Staking requires pruning away excess foliage; removing excess foliage helps direct energy to the developing fruit instead of the leaves, resulting in faster ripening.
7. Consider Raised Beds or Containers
Warm soil temperatures spur tomato growth and fruit set. Raised beds and containers warm up much faster than in-ground planting spots. Growth will be faster in a raised bed or container. However, moisture needs will be higher so be prepared to water regularly. Expect to harvest tomatoes from a raised bed or container a week or two earlier than in-ground plants.
Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens
